Tuesday, 25 November 2014

Book buddies: Ethan's new favourite books

From classic tales to picture books and musical books, Ethan has an expanding library and never seems to tire of reading, even though he doesn't know what the words say. He will bring us books throughout the day to read to him or he will sit and flick through a book, turning page after page and following the lines of text with his finger or pointing at the pictures and look to us to find out what the right word is for what he's looking at.

He's my little book worm in the making and I love it. I always had my head in a book when I was growing up and Ethan looks to be the same. I've written before about the importance of reading and it's so lovely to see that Ethan has a fascination in the printed word too.

Oh, how I can't wait to share some of my favourite childhood books! From Charlotte's Webb and Stig of the Dump to The Suitcase Kid, The Three Investigators and even Harry Potter, bedtime is sure to be my favourite time of day with my little guy.

We're very lucky to be a part of the Parragon Books Book Buddies programme and each month, my little bookworm receives a new book to inspire his imagination. Ethan has had three new books to add to his rather vast book collection over the past two months and each one has something different to offer.

This book tells the tale of a cat and dog, which is probably why Ethan really enjoyed looking at this as we have a dog and two cats ourselves and Ethan adores them. Dog wants to play and cat wants to sleep (sounds very familiar to us!) and you follow them running after each other from one page to the next.

The illustrations are really lovely, in a watercolour style, and the characters are fun and engaging. The really special thing about this book is how there's cut outs in the pages so you can peek through from one page to the next.

I have a huge love of picture books and started collecting some before Ethan was even a twinkle in my eye as I once wanted to be a children's author and illustrator, and this is one of the nicest I've come across. I like the story and the way the book has been designed and for £2.99, I think it's a fantastic price for a book that's sure to appeal to any animal loving reader.

This boxed book and toy gift set comes with a gentle warning - open with care as it contains a mouse! Aimed at teaching little ones to count along with their cute new rodent friend, this is a lovely little book that's nicely designed and easy to follow.

Ethan can only say '10' at the moment (it's a start!) but this book is going into his stocking this Christmas as something we can come back to more and more to help him learn how to count.

Ethan received this book last week and immediately, it has become his most read book of the moment. He received a couple of these finger puppet board books as presents when he was younger, with his previous favourite being Five Little Monkeys, but now it's all about the sheep.

They're such a fun idea and Ethan loves listening to us sing the nursery rhyme whilst wiggling the sheep finger puppet around. It's a handy size to pop in our changing bag when we go out and it just seems to really interest Ethan. I'd really recommend these kinds of books for little ones - they seem to really enjoy the finger puppet element and for the price, they are great value for the entertainment they bring and how hard-wearing they are.

Which books is your little one reading at the moment? And what's your favourite bedtime story?

* Thank you to Parragon Books for these fantastic reads. Each month, we look forward to receiving the latest book and there's always something new for Ethan to enjoy.

1 comment

Hello

I’m Kelly, mama to Ethan (5) and bump (due December), wife to Ste and we live in Birmingham with our dog, two cats and two rabbits. You could say that life is pretty busy in our house… and it’s about to get busier!

TBM is a UK based family and lifestyle blog and vlog about my life, loves & adventures in motherhood, established since 2012. Here, I share my take on pregnancy, parenting, style, beauty, interiors, food and days out, and my mission to put the 'me' into mummy. Grab a cuppa and have a look around…